Thursday, October 10, 2013

Shrunken Heads

If you're curious about the real ones -

Used as trophies and for ritual, shrunken heads are not quite what you might assume they are. When I was a kid and first saw a TV special that showed them, I was aghast! I had images of some natives along the Amazon boiling my head until it was a raisin.

Here is the recipe for the obscene: The head is severed from the body. A slice is made through the flesh on the back of the head and the skin is peeled from the skull. Seeds are placed under the eyelids and the eyes sewn shut. Pins hold the mouth closed. A wooden ball is used to shape the form. The flesh is boiled, stuffed with herbs, it is dried on hot rocks and sand while being formed. The skin is then rubbed down with ash.

For some time, there was trade in shrunken heads for guns and cash. Since the 1940s, it has been illegal to trade in shrunken heads, which obviously has made genuine ones even more prized. The great majority of ones you find for sale today are animal hides made to look like shrunken heads which is just fine with me.

3 comments:

For real? I took one I found at my babysitters when I was a little kid (I'm 26 now). It was on a string and a suction cup on the outside of my bedroom window for some reason. I can vividly remember one night waking up and feeling uncontrollably compelled to go look at it. As I did, it spun around and stared me dead in the eyes. I was immediately filled with absolute terror. I tore down the steps as fast as I could, but I felt myself being pulled back almost as hard. My parents wouldn't believe me of course, but they still got rid of it. Crazy shit.

For real? I took one I found at my babysitters when I was a little kid (I'm 26 now). It was on a string and a suction cup on the outside of my bedroom window for some reason. I can vividly remember one night waking up and feeling uncontrollably compelled to go look at it. As I did, it spun around and stared me dead in the eyes. I was immediately filled with absolute terror. I tore down the steps as fast as I could, but I felt myself being pulled back almost as hard. My parents wouldn't believe me of course, but they still got rid of it. Crazy shit.

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ABOUT ME

Sharon Day is a researcher, author, working in oil and gas industry equipment sales, equity investing and promoting of disruptive technologies. She is also co chair of a film industry group working on films..

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